Confessions of a Shopaholic...

...and the training of a future one, I suppose.

When we bought Vivi her kitchen, I figured (correctly) that she would need food for the kitchen.  And one cannot purchase food without shoppink (shopping).  Well...unless you live in New York City.  Which we don't.  So. Training necessary.  

There seems to be some shoppink cart/strollah (stroller) confusion, however, as it seems to be mostly used to give rides to Baby (a gift left by Santa in Lincoln--he was no slouch in this state, either).

Tragically, this little shopaholic does not feel it necessary to make Baby wear a seat belt, resulting in this unfortunate photo.

My only saving grace is that she is not COMPLETLEY covered with food.

Julia Child in the Making

We were so excited to get home and give Vivi the present we chose for her.  Russ and I had been plotting for quite some time as to what to get her.  After one mad dash to Target (you're welcome, Vivi), we were in possession of one sweet mutha-scratching kitchen.  However, after the gift debacle in Durant, we learned our lesson.  We were NOT giving her this gift in the box.  So after she went to bed we set it up in the dining room.

She woke up and was stoked!  She immediately began exploring, opening all the doors and cupboards.

Then, wisely, she proceeded to make "cau-see" (or coffee, in the English).  Who is so smart and loves her mommy?  I am so pleased that she has her morning priorities in order.

After we had been plied with massive amounts of cau-see, she proceeded to make us breakfast.  No telling what was on the menu, as it involved two pots, a coffee pot, and, inexplicably, a handful of silverware.

And then she cleaned up (note the dish i the sink)!  My child has better kitchen habits than I do.  So embarrassing...and AWESOME!

Christmas Carnage

So last year, Vivi was not really able to open gifts.  She kind of stared while Russ and I opened things, and then played with them.  Kind of.  So we were really excited to see if she would be into opening presents this year!  I LOVE giving people presents.  I really love giving kids presents.  Their reaction (while not always the one you'd expect), is usually priceless.

This year was pretty good.  Vivi started with gifts from Aunt Becky and Uncle Jake.  She opened a very glamorous pair of striped tights, and then this gift followed!

While I was super excited about the purple sweater dress, Vivi seemed unsure.  However, the next gift garnered an awesome reaction!

This is a book that reads itself.  You record your voice reading the story, so the kid can listen to you read to them, no matter where you are!  Vivi has one read to her by Grandma Otto, one read to her by Grandpa Otto, and now one read to her by Aunt Becky and Uncle Jake...and it is about MONSTERS.  

It may or may not roar.

As Vivi discovered.  She was most pleased!  We read this book A LOT.

So here's the thing we didn't really take in to account.  While Vivi may have been content to leave the presents more or less alone while they were wrapped (seriously, she didn't even mess with them at all), once they were unwrapped and she figured out they were for her, she demanded that each one be removed from the box so she could play with it.  Then she would totally forget about the rest of the gifts because she was so excited about playing with the unwrapped ones.

Gift opening took awhile (this awesome farm set from Grandma and Grandpa was particularly popular)!

That being said, a farm,a jungle, a book, and a lot of laughs later, it was a pretty dang good day.  And no matter how long it took, there was still quite a bit of this face...

Love it!  Merry Christmas to all!

A Special Visitor...

...and I'm not just talking about Santa.

You see, Santa was apparently SO EXCITED to meet Vivi that he stopped by every morning we were in Iowa, leaving various Hawkeye-related items (Santa is pretty freakin' awesome, we must admit).  But then, on Christmas morning, Santa really outdid himself.  Vivi wandered into the living room, glanced up, and...

...it was magic.

Yes, Iowa City, there is a Santa Claus.  And he brought Vivi a Herky doll.  She was most pleased.

And so was Russ!  Herky has now become one of the two objects that Vivi wants to be in her bed when she goes "nite-nite."  The other one is Jack-Dog, so you can see what an elevated status Herky holds for her.

Coincidence that the Hawkeyes won their bowl game?  I think not!  Welcome, Herky!

Our Iowa Holiday

We had a great time hanging out with the Otto/Bills clan over Christmas!  Vivi was very excited to spend some time with her relatives and showing off her awesome set of skills and vocabulary.

She spent time checking out Grandma Otto's amazing set of Christmas toys.

This giggling snowman and the moose that sings "Jingle Bell Rock" were particularly popular.

Grandpa Otto spent a lot of time dancing with and reading to Vivi (A LOT).

When she wasn't chasing "An Bockee" (Aunt Becky) down the hall, or attempting to bargain her way into whatever room An Bockee was in (heaven forbid she try to get dressed or use the restroom unassisted), Vivi took some time out to read with her, as well.

And there was lots of playtime with "Unk Jeek!" (Uncle Jake, for those of you who are lost in translation).

All in all, it was a great time, and Vivi got to spend a lot of time playing with the people she loves.  But stay tuned for...the Christmas Carnage!

Side Bar

Never fear, I will return to our holiday posts in just a moment. But I really want to take a second to commemorate a few of my favorite new "Vivisms.". For example...

GrandMary is now "Née-née." (and no, we do not let her watch "T he Real Housewives of Atlanta).

Koala Bear is "Ko-wow-wow."

The Monster at the End of this Book (a Christmas gift from Aunt Kate and Noah that has been a BIG HIT) is "Gro-ger Page."

She is truly amazing to me every day.

A Tale of Two Monkeys...

Happy Holidays!

So sorry for the lapse in posting...we went to Iowa for Christmas!  It was really awesome.  And Vivi was really, really well behaved.  Perhaps because she had...a new buddy?

Yes folks, you are seeing that.  TWO Sock Monkeys.  Vivi's Great Grandma Kappeler hand-made Vivi her new gentleman Sock Monkey.  We went to visit her the first evening we were in Durant, and I am pretty sure Sock Man-key (what?  you tell me a better way to differentiate between them) did not leave her side the whole time we're there.

"Dance with me, my monkey friend."

Russ, unfortunately got a hold of Sock Man-key, and took some liberties with his outfit.  Hopefully Vivi will learn some sweet hip-hop moves from her new monkey friend.  She did spend A LOT of time dancing over the holidays, so...

...bust a move, my little lady!